Friday, June 03, 2011

What was that Thing in the Sky?

Author’s note: The following story may or may not be of paranormal origin. The story is, however, about something unknown, and that puts it firmly in the realm of “From the Shadows.”

The city glow of Sedalia, Mo., lit the night around the state fairgrounds as a crowd gathered for the coming July 4, 2010, fireworks show.

Paul Michaels stood in that small crowd when, at about 9:20 p.m., before the fireworks show began; something appeared in the evening sky he couldn’t identify.

“There was what looked like a plane about 150 feet off the ground,” he said. “There was a cloudbank right on the edge of the fairground, all along 16th Street. I saw it pop out of the clouds.”

As Michaels watched the craft, he became convinced it wasn’t a normal airplane.

“What I saw running south to north was a plane 150 feet above the tree line. It looked exactly like a plane,” Michaels said, but it didn’t behave like an airplane. “You couldn’t hear it coming. It came right over the top of us. The fireworks hadn’t even started yet.”

Little traffic drove past the area, most people there to watch the fireworks show had arrived, so city din was light.

“(The craft) was just as quiet as a balloon,” Michaels said. “It looked like a military plane.” But, at the same time, it didn’t.

Michaels, who had done electrical work at an Air Force base in Texas and had observed many military aircraft, noticed it didn’t act like any craft he’d seen.

“It didn’t have any blinking lights,” Michaels said. “And the canopy didn’t look like a canopy.”

The craft had an orange-yellow glowing “observation dome” in the front – and it was slow. Too slow.

“If you moved your hand through the air, that’s what you were experiencing,” Michaels said. “This thing was floating.”

Living in Sedalia, Michaels has had many chances to watch military aircraft in flight. Whiteman Air Force Base in nearby Knob Noster is home to the 509th Bomb Wing, the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber and many other aircraft that do training runs across the area.

“Mom lived out in the county on a 40-acre lake and (military aircraft) would shoot out over that lake,” he said. “They were buzzing all the time. They’ll come in at an angle, from southeast, not from south to north like this one. But you hear them coming and going.”

He stood and watched this craft fly slowly out of sight; then another appeared, floated slowly and silently until it was out of sight. No one else seemed to notice.

“Fighter jets will shoot through Mom’s yard at 8:50 at night,” he said. “But (with these craft) you didn’t hear any swoosh or anything. It was doing a steady speed. It was doing faster than traffic, but I’ve seen trucks going down the street faster than they were going.”

The craft had no markings, insignia or writing.

“They just baffled the hell out of me,” Michaels said.

One day Michaels spoke with a man who worked at Whiteman Air Force Base and described the craft to him. The man had an answer.

“A-10s,” Michaels said. “He said they can be quiet.”

So Michaels looked into the A-10 Thunderbolt fighter jet. Even though the craft Michaels saw looked like a military plane, “it didn’t look like an A-10.”

“Talking to people from the airbase, they said the A-10 can do that (fly low and silent), but you can still hear them,” he said. “It still makes noise. These were quiet as a church mouse. I’ve got an old ’63 Dodge that makes more noise than that.”

Michaels asked if what he saw could be an advanced military craft not released to the public. The people from the airbase said yes, but the base didn’t have it.

All Michaels wants to know is what he saw.

“I’ve seen some things I don’t know how to explain,” Michaels said. “I’ve talked to several different people who can’t explain them either. I don’t believe in things until I see them myself.”

And he has.

The question is, what did Michaels see slowly cruising low over the state fairgrounds in Sedalia, Mo., on July 4? A known military craft, an unknown military craft, or something from beyond this world?

“I’d be interested if someone out there has seen something like what I saw,” Michaels said. “I don’t want someone to try and explain it away. I know different.”

If you have an idea what might be flying slowly and silently through our night sky, please comment on this post or contact me by email.

Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt, P.O. Box 501, Maryville, Mo., 64468, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”

Jason’s newest book on the paranormal, “Paranormal Missouri: Show Me Your Monsters,” is available at Jason’s blog, from-the-shadows.blogspot.com.

12 comments:

I think it could possibly be a glider, or some aircraft that was in a gliding state. That would explain the lack of noise, and if the wings were sufficiently large enough, it wouldn't require a lot of air speed to get the necessary lift.

The military has been doing quite a bit of work around using massive blimps for transport. They use little fuel, they can carry heavy loads, and they're *very* quiet. I'm not saying that's what the object was but it's a guess.

I saw the same thing! The only difference was that the plane that I saw seemed a bit older and not military and it was stationary in the sky. Roughly the same height from the ground. Really weird! I was driving when I saw it so there was little more than 30 seconds to examine it.

"Paul Michaels stood in that small crowd when, at about 9:20 p.m., before the fireworks show began; something appeared in the evening sky he couldn’t identify.""The craft had no markings, insignia or writing."Having never been to Sedalia myself, is the city glow so bright you could make out markings at 9:20 at night, 150 feet away?

I was on William Henry's FB page last year and read a report that he witnessed the same type of phenomenom at Gilliands Ranch on July 4th. What was interesting was that I witnessed a Red low flying object not acting like a conventional aircraft at my July 4th celebration in Upstate NY. It appeared overhead of the fireworks and came from the east. It jolted upward and disappeared. What is even more astounding is that about 10 friends on William Henry's FB page also commented on seeing the same object on July 3rd and 4th celebration mostly around the same time 9-930p. Some even posted videos. I did some research into it and found over 20 account ranging in over 12 states and one in England on that day. Whatever it was it was no modern day technolugy and it definately wanted to be seen. I spent 9 years in the military and know much about aeronautics and aircraft and this was something I had never seen before. As to the account that this gentleman made about it appearing as a plane or similar? I recall this object to be orange-redish and more spherical or saucer oriented..It was very hard to make out due to the color it projected. Either way something wanted to be seen by a mass of people and that it was!

Don't know what it is or if the story is true, but just to toss some speculation out there...how about some kind of hologram technology? That might explain why they were silent. Although, I'm not sure why someone would be showing holograms of military planes over Sedalia, Mo on July 4th.

I saw the same thing in January 2011. However, my parents saw about six of them on New Years Eve and caught them on video tape. Same reddish-Orange description, hovering at times, then darting off and coming back. I posted the video on YouTube and multiple other people posted videos too from all over the world. Go to YouTube and type in "Seminole UFO". Definitely UFOs

It was in the early 70's in the city of Windsor Ontario that I saw the floating craft. I worked the midnight shift alone in a motel with a huge lawn in front. The city was dead calm at about 4 o'clock in the morning and I went out on the lawn in the summer heat for a smoke break. I noticed two searchlights in the sky over the airport which was about 15 miles away. They plyed over the ground searching as the craft slowly moved towards me. I thought it was a police helicopter searching and I was curious and watched it for about 15 minutes as it slowly floated towards me. As it came closer I realized it was not a helicopter, it was something huge. Soon I realized it was a giant space ship about 1000 feet or more in diameter. It was round and had a structure underneath which had lighted windows all around and under that was a large circular glowing disc that shimmered like northern lights. Like a vandergraf generator with greenish and yellow waves. I believe it was some kind of electrical propulsion system. It was about 500 feet (hard to tell) above the ground so I saw it very clearly. And I heard the hum of the motors. It was like a turbine whining and humming. It floated slowly over me and I watched. As it passed over I ran through the building and out the back door to watch it. It had passed over me about half way when it suddenly took off at unbeleivable speed and within a split second it stopped about 25 miles away above the area of the Detroit airport and started up the two search lights again. So yes there are crafts that float and a small shuttle from this ship would probably float silently with the type of propulsion I saw on a small scale. I watched it for a long time and had a very good look at it and even after 40 years I remember it like yesterday. It did make a huge impression.

I HAVE seen something like what you saw. In 2010 My boyfriend and I were driving through michigan on a bright, calm, sunny day. As we were driving, a passenger jet flew overhead. Something about this was strange from the beginning. The plane was as low as if you threw a pencil about 4 feet in the air; the size of the pencil is how large the plane looked. The plane looked clean, almost in a plastic way, and the markings that stand out in my memory are the red on the tail. as the plane crossed over in front of us, VERY slowly, I said to George "Isn't it amazing how planes can look look they're floating"? As the plane passed over the trees, it seemed to stop...Yes, we were driving and I've taken that into consideration, but the plane didn't change size or direction. Our road was not straight.It just hung there. We were so baffled by it, we didnt even think to stop. It just hung there, above the trees. There were people right behind us or we would have slowed down. George was just as confused as I was. The thing is, the plane was SILENT the whole time.The plane looked like it should have been landing, but the nose was up, not level with the ground.Even if some planes do land nose up, this was not one of those. I dont know if the people on the road behind us saw this.This whole incident took mabe two minutes. two minutes for a plane as close as it was to us, to cross over the road and plaster itself in suspended animation right above the treetops.Finally we went around behind some trees and we lost sight of it. *shudder*

About Me

Jason Offutt is a syndicated columnist, author, college journalism instructor, and fan of all things strange. His books about the paranormal, "Paranormal Missouri: Show Me Your Monsters," "What Lurks Beyond: The Paranormal In Your Backyard," "Darkness Walks: The Shadow People Among Us," and “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri's Most Spirited Spots,” are available at www.amazon.com.
Jason is available for interviews, speaking engagements and beer festivals. E-mail all serious inquiries to: shadowpeoplebook@gmail.com.